Sheet-glass apparatus



April 21, 1931- A. E. EVANS SHEET GLASS APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Nov. 5, 1925 H w w mm M uh .m 6 n g 6 xv I i I lllinlllflllfllllml \m wm W Ne N x \W \L. J\\\\ N 1 mm .w W. LOO OO QOOOOOQOOOOO O OOO 090O m m fin G QMQ w v u M I L n. n 11111 I z Y W. O iul wo aw Q .wm MW: mm W ma wk Nw mm. 5 v. N. mm mm m Q E, MN w A ril 2?! 1%1. A. E. EVANS SHEET GLASS APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fla Original Filed Nov. 5, 1925 4 1 I f IX 1 INVENTOR April 1931- A. E. EVANS SHEET GLASS APPARATUS Original Filed Nov. 5, 1925 I5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Apr. 21, 1931 UNITED. STATES} PATENT OFFICE ALBERT E. EVANS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB 1'0 PITTSBURGH PLATE GLASS COMPANY, A. CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA APPARATUS Continuation of application Serial No. 86,948. filed November 5, 1928. This application filed July 26, 1988.!

Serial No.

The invention relates. to apparatus for making sheets of glass intermittently 1n ribbon form and annealing them, the apparatus being particularly designed for making relatively thick glass, such as plate lass or glass used in construction work, suc as Carrara glass. In rolling thick glass, t is necessary to carrv the sheet just after it is generated forward at a relatively high rate of speed in order to prevent it from sagging between the su ports constituting the bed of the runwa or eer, this being due to thetendeucy of t e hot glass constituting the center of the sheet to soften the lower surface or skin of the sheet. After the sheet has set to a point'where it will no lon r sag, it is neces sary to reduce the speed 0 movement of the sheet 'asotherwise a leer of unduly great len h is required to roperly anneal and coo the glass. The re uced speed of travel of the glass through the last portion ofthe leer, therefore, governs the production of the apparatus, and the (production of the apparatus is thus reduce to a fraction of that of the sheet rolling or generating portion. The present apparatus is designed to take care of this condition and to multiply the capacity of the leer without increasing its length. In order to accomplish this result, the leer is i made in two parts, the first part, through which the glass must pass at a relativel high rate of speed, being mounted for ateral movement, and the second part of the leer. being made in multiple, so that the sheets from the first part may be made to enter either one of such multiple parts. After a sheet is delivered into the second art of the leer, the s ed of this part is re uced. As shown an described, the second part of the leer is made in two units, one above the other, but a eater number of units may be employed. he two units may be located in one leer chamber, or in separate leer chambers,

and, if desired, they ma be located alongside each other instead 0 one above the other, the only requirement being that the movement of the preliminary leer section be such that its .outletend may be brought into alignment Wlth'iQltl'lBllOllB f the unitsof the-secend partoftlie' leer; *IIDJUSlIIgLthiSCOHStFHC- causes. tion, the sheets which are generated and car ried rapidlyethrough the first section of the leer, may alternately directed .into the units or sections of the second part of the leer, thus multipl ing the capacity of the leer by the number 0 such sections. The apparatus of the present application is disclosed in my prior application, Serial Number 66,943. Certain embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the apparatus on the line I'I of Fi 2. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line I-II of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view. Fig. 4: is a vertical section through a modification. And Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic plan views of modifications.

The sheet generating apparatus at the left-hand'end of the machine comprises a ring 1 sup orted for rotation'upon the rolls 2and3an asizing rollimountedinaframework 5 for swinging movement around the axis of the roll 3 as a center. The an lar space 6 between the rolls 1 and it constitutes a pocket-into which the contents of a pot or ladle is poured, any escape of glass at the ends of. the pocket being prevented by means of sultable plates 7 fitting around the sur faces of the rolls adjacent their ends. The

annularroll 1 is preferably made to contact with a bath of water 8 to prevent it from becoming overheated, and in order to bring it up to proper temperature before the casting operation begins, the gas burners 9 are provided. The annular roll is preferably rotated from the roll 3, such roll being driven from the electric motor 10 (Fig. 3). This motor drives a wormwheel in the casing 11 through theintermediary of the gears 12 and 13, and the end of the worm wheel carries a gear 14' which drives a gear 17 carried bythe end of the roll 3. The roll 4 is provided with passages, as indicated in Fig. 1 and is cooled by circulating a flow of water therethrough. This roll is driven from the roll 3 by means of intermeshing gears upon the ends of the roll shafts.

The thickness of the glass sheet which is formed;iszregulatedbyswinging the frame 5 which carries the roll 4 about the roll 3 as an axis, this being accomplished by means of the 5 shaft 21 as indicated at 22 and such shaft isadjusted longitudinally by means of a worm wheel 23 operated from a worm 24 rotated by the hand crank 25. In order to hold the glass in the ocket 6 until it is desired to start the rolhng operation, the stop member 26 is emplo ed fitting between the rolls as indicated in Fig. 1 and provided with a pair of racks 27 at its ends. These racks are enby a pair of ears 28 carried u on a shaft 29 and operated by a crank 30. y rotating the crank, the stop member '26 is withdrawn in order to permit a flow of lass between the rolls after the pocket 6 as been filled from the ladle. In operating the ap go paratus, sufiicient glass is supplied to the ocket 6 to form a sheet in ribbon form of the esired length.

The lass after leaving the rolls passes onto the tab e 31 which is hollow and water cooled as so that a sup orting skin is formed on the lower side of t e sheet. The sheet then passes into the preliminary leer section 32. This leer section is of a length somewhat greater than that of the sheet 33 which is to be handled thereby and is constructed so that it ma be moved vertically as hereinafter describe The body of the leer is constructed of suit able insulating material and is rigidly su rted u on a frame-work consisting of the ongitudinally. extending channels 34 the transverse channels 35 and the eye beams 36, which framework in turn is carried by the lifting lunger 37. The leer section is provided with suitable gas burners 38 and has a runway for the glass in the form of a series of driven rollers 39 arranged in series extending from one end of the leer section to the other. The leer is also provided with a pair of dampers 40 and 41 for assisting in the regulatin of the temperature of the leer chamber. e movement of the plunger 37 and the leer section carried thereby is governed bg the application of fluid pressure through t e pipes 42 and 43 a valve 44 being provide intermediate the inlet ipe 45 and the branches 42 and 43. This va ve also controls an exhaust passa e 46 through which the fluid at either si e of the plunger head 47 may be discharged. The plunger 37 would, of course, return to the position shown due to the weight of the parts when the valve 44 is moved so as to connect the pipes 42 and 46, but the application of pressure through the pipe 43 serves to speed up this movement so that the leer section may be moved from its upper to its lower position in a minimum period of time.

The second part of the leer which receives the sheets from the section 32 is made in two 05 units, as shown, 48 being the upper unit and leer unit 48, fluid pressure is admitt 1,eo2,14a

49 the lower one and each of these units is provided with a carrier or runway for the glass in the form of rollers 50 and 51. These rollers are provided upon their ends with suitable sprocket wheels and are driven b means of the sprocket chains 52 and 53. Eac

leer unit or section is rovided with a damper 54 which may be a justed to suit requirements, and the asbestos curtains 55 and 56 serve to close ofi the ends of the leer units when they are not in use. When the leer section 32 is in its lower position, the curtain 55 serves to close of! the end of the upper leer unit 48 which is not in service, and when the leer section 32 is moved to its upper position in alignment with the unit 48, the curtain 56 is moved up so that it closes the end of the leer unit 49.

Mounted at one side of the leer section 32 is a standard 57 carrying a horizontal shaft 58 and such shaft is provided with a sprocket 59 driven from a s rocket chain 60 passing over a sprocket 61 ig. 2) carried by the end roll 51a of the leer unit 49. A vertical shaft 62 is also carried by the standard 57 and driven from the shaft 58 by means of the bevel gears 63 and 64. Secured to the side of the longitudinal channels 34 constituting the supporting framework for the leer section 32, is a standard 65 (Fig. 2) provided with a horizontal shaft 66 carrying a bevel gear 67 at its end which gear meshes with a gear 68 splined up? the. vertical shaft 62. s: that a drive is pro vided for the shaft 66 in all oi. the vertical positions of adjustment of the leer section 32. The shaft 66 is provided with a sprocket carrying a chain 69, and this chain passes around a sprocket wheel 70 on the countershaft 71, also carried by the channels 34. This countershaft 71 carries a second sprocket which serves as a drive for the chain 72. This chain 72 passes around a sprocket 73 carried by the channel 34 and around suitable sprockets on the ends of the roll shafts 39. A drive is thus provided for the rolls carrying the'glass when the leer section is in both of its operative positions.

In operation, a sheet of glass is rolled between the rolls 1 and 4 and passed into the preliminary leer section 32, as indicated at 33. 1 Assuming that a sheet 330 has just been fed into the leer unit 49, and it is desired to move the sheet 33 into the 11 per beneath the plunger 37 causing it to rise and moving the leer section 32 upward from the position shown until the runway is in alignment with the runway of the leer unit 48. While this movement is taking place, the sheet 33 is being fed forward through the leer section 32, suflicient space being provided for this feed movement so that when the leer section reaches its u per position, the righthand end of the sheet 33 has just reached a:

end of the leer section 32. The major per 1:

tion of the leer has its rolls follo set 51 (which are rotating at the same the h these slower moving rolls, its progress is reduced to a dpoint where proper annealing can be secure in a leer of reasonable len h. The speed of formation of the sheet an its movement over the rolls 39 and 51 preferably ranges from to 40 feet per minute, while the movement of the sheet in the major portion of the leer following the rolls and 51 is preferably about four feet per minute. After the sheet has been moved into the leer unit 48, the preliminary leer section is lowered to its starting position, this being accom lished by exhausting the fluid from beneatli the plunger through the pipes 42 and 46, while pressure is admitted above the plunger head through .the pipe 43. In this manner, sheets from the preliminary leer section are alternately supplied to the leer units 48 and 49 so that apparatus is doubled.

Fig. 4 illustrates a modification of the construction of Fig. 1, wherein the leer sections or units consistin of the sets of rolls 74 and 75 are locate in a single leer chamber 76 instead of havin a dividing wall, such as the wall 77 of the ig. 1 construction, therebetween. This is a cheaper construction than that of Fig. 1 construction, As heretofore indicated, the embodiment in a wide variet that is necessary being ondary leer umts use a preliminary leer section or runway outer end is adapted to be brou ht into alignment with an one of the secon leer units. Figs. 5 an 6 show diagrammat c modifications of the broad idea involved. In the Fig. 5 construction 78 is the of forms, all

in conjunction with mounted for lateral movement on the track 79, so that it to align with any one of the secondary leer sections 80, 81, 82, the dotted lines indicating the other positions of the section 78. ,The rolling mechanism 83 is preferably the same as in the Fig.1 construction and suitable power means are provided for shifting the 7 section 78 laterally.

In the Fig. 6 apparatus, the primary leer section 84 is mounted upon a turntable to swing around a vertical axis located at 85 so that the section may be brought into alignment with the radially directed secondary leer sections 86, 87, and 88, the dotted lines indicating the other positions of thesection 84. The rolling mechanism 89 is preferably the same as in the Fig. 1 construction and suitable power means are provided for shifting the turntable about the axis 85. If desired, the secondary sections of the leer may be of the oven type in which the glass is kept stationary instead of the tunnel type,

I forming sheets of the capacity of the invention is capable of may be shifted laterally, so as or these secondary sections might be in part of the tunnel ype and in part the oven type.

' I claim is:

he combination with a pair of rolls for glass successively in ribbon form from bodies of molten glass, a vertically movable runway extending forwardly from the rolls and provided with means for carrying the glass ribbons therealong, and a plurality of roller leer sections or units in advance of the runway, one above the other, and means for operating the rolls of the runway and those at tively higher sfieed than the rolls following the entrance ro s and extending through the body of the leer, the said runway being mounted so that its outlet and ma be brought into ahgtisiment with any one of t e leer sections or 11111 In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 17th day of Jul 1928.

ALBERT E. nvXiss.

the p urality of secprimary leer section 1' the entrance of theleer at a rela 

